Art-Science Calendar of Events NYC

This calendar is an initiative of the Art Science Observatory, in collaboration with SciArt in America, Beautiful Brain, Ligo projects, Dactyl Foundation and other art/science organizations.

Josip Novakovich, reading with introduction by Victoria N. Alexander

Now what is so special about coincidences in narratives? I’m going to discuss three ways of looking at this question. First, Why are they so important in myths? How do they function there? Second, in the age of postmodernism, Why were they used ironically? And Third, Why do coincidences function differently now? In order to answer to this third question, which is of course the one we’re interested in, I will have to introduce some recent science that has revised our notions of chance and determinism. And which, I argue, provide a new context for the interpretation of art. When I’m done I hope you will understand why I chose to have Novakovich read tonight and I hope you will also understand more what Dactyl is all about.

You may wonder how Novakovich could be so far ahead of the game. Novakovich himself may be wondering since he’s not a hard core fan of science so far as I know. I think to be an artist is to be ahead of this game. This game of chance and order and design. The new sciences are closest to the aesthetic form of understanding than any other form of understanding we humans have dreamt up yet, including empirical or religious forms of knowledge etc…